Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 140,426 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $20,726,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in ANSYS by 9.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 39,373 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,834,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in ANSYS by 12.1% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 21,172 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 2,290 shares in the last quarter. Tredje AP fonden boosted its position in ANSYS by 49.3% during the third quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 32,900 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,038,000 after purchasing an additional 10,860 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in ANSYS by 13.6% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 23,011 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in ANSYS by 27.2% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,050,124 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $128,883,000 after purchasing an additional 224,640 shares in the last quarter. 96.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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In other ANSYS news, CFO Maria T. Shields sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.52, for a total value of $4,063,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bradford C. Morley sold 24,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total value of $4,043,970.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 61,691 shares of company stock valued at $8,852,518. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BidaskClub raised ANSYS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. ValuEngine raised ANSYS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 1st. Zacks Investment Research raised ANSYS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $136.00 price objective (down previously from $160.00) on shares of ANSYS in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised ANSYS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $123.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. ANSYS currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.00.

Shares of ANSYS, Inc. (ANSS) opened at $169.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14,420.00, a PE ratio of 53.61 and a beta of 1.04. ANSYS, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.55 and a twelve month high of $171.92.

ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The software maker reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $302.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.66 million. ANSYS had a return on equity of 12.14% and a net margin of 22.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. research analysts anticipate that ANSYS, Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ANSYS declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 21st that permits the company to repurchase 5,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software maker to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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ANSYS Company Profile

ANSYS, Inc (ANSYS) develops and markets engineering simulation software and services used by engineers, designers, researchers and students across a range of industries and academia, including aerospace and defense, automotive, industrial equipment, electronics, biomedical, energy, materials and chemical processing, and semiconductors.

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